A Guide to Rebooting Your Virtual Compliance Training Program

By Diane Banks

You may have heard this from some of your employees, “It’s been over two years and if I have to sit through one more virtual training I will scream.” The pandemic changed the world and our workplace and industry evolved; however, one thing didn’t change, and that is the need to effectively train new and existing personnel.  We adapted to lockdowns by switching to live virtual training or pre-recorded materials viewed at the learner’s convenience; but at this point some of our employees have hit the virtual training fatigue wall.  Where do we go from here?

The Institute of Corporate Productivity (i4cp) conducted a survey on the state of the virtual classroom.  The results revealed that the likelihood of the pendulum swinging back to the direction of in-person instructor-led training was moderate. The report stated, “69% of the participants stating that 60% of the instructor-led training will remain virtual and another 19% think that 41-60% of it will.” Stone, T. (2021, December 8). Optimizing Virtual Classroom Training: What The Research Says. Optimizing Virtual Classroom Training: What the Research Says (i4cp.com)

It appears that virtual training is here to stay and now may be the time to consider rebooting or refreshing your compliance training program.   Your program may have started life very traditionally, consisting of either (or both) internal and external training, and you have shifted to virtual training.   Rebooting your compliance training program will breathe new life into it and allow your training to remain fresh and relevant.   There are three phases to rebooting your training program: you will need to re-evaluate your goals, re-evaluate your format and finally execute your new plan.

Re-evaluate your goals

The first step in rebooting your training program is to evaluate its effectiveness.  The best way to do this is to talk to your staff.  Ask for feedback about training content.  Is it engaging? Does it get the job done?  Ask yourself some questions too. What were the goals of the content of your original training program? Ask the participants if their goals were met.  In rebooting your program don’t forget to incorporate the needs of both the office and remote employee.  

Another area to consider concerns findings from examinations and/or internal audit/monitoring reports.  Did these findings contain anything noteworthy? Did the regulators suggest any enhancements?  Anything done particularly well?  Did the internal auditor note any deficiencies?  Step out of the box and look at business line issues indicated in a report.   A problem in the lending or deposit areas could be traced back to a failure to properly train. 

Gather this information and set your goals. Make your training achievable and manageable. 

Re-evaluate your format

Gone are the days when training meant simply creating a presentation, gathering everyone into a room, and talking about a topic for 30-45 minutes.  Your company may have decided to allow employees to work full or part time from home. At this point you have probably eliminated the traditional classroom/boardroom style of training and created a hybrid training model. 

Remember to consider your diverse audience and find the most efficient and economical program that works for your institution.  In evaluating your training format, consider the various learning types and adapt your program so it gives all types of learners the opportunity to understand and retain the information.   For example, the social learner would be geared towards live face-to-face instruction or live virtual.  The pre-recorded training model would probably work better with the solitary learner, who learns best without a lot of distractions. For those with a competitive nature consider a training system that comes with a gamification component. 

Also consider where your employees are located.  The remote worker may need more interactive training so as not to experience virtual training fatigue; a live webinar is the best fit here.  With office personnel consider face-to-face instruction or pre-recorded training.  Ask your colleagues in the industry what training solutions they have adopted. But remember that what works for them may not work for you.

Execute your plan

You have re-evaluated your goals and your format and you have a solid plan to reboot your compliance training program…. now it’s time to execute your new plan.  Get buy-in from the key stakeholders, establish a roll-out date and perhaps make it competitive by offering some kind of incentive for early completion or high scores.  Also, don’t forget to document your efforts and update applicable programs and policies.

You done the heavy lifting, and you are wondering where to go to get everything you need, the way you need it.  Here is where Capco Academy can assist you to update your training program through our curriculum consultation service.   Our in-person training, and both live and pre-recorded webinars provide solutions for both the office and remote worker.  Blackboard, our learning management system, offers American Bankers Association certified courses. Our courses serve the experienced professional seeking to maintain certification and the person new to banking, and financial services.  To appeal to the competitor in all of us, our LMS offers gamification features.  When your training needs a little something extra, we offer custom designed instructor led training specific to the needs of your organization.

Let Capco Academy know how we can assist you in rebooting your training by reaching out to us at capco.academy@capco.com.